Caution, Hazardous Wife

 I'm not sure why I decided to try a new show over the weekend while exercising. Maybe because I'll Go to You When the Weather is Nice is such a slow-paced thing? I'd had Caution, Hazardous Wife on the Viki list for a bit and it looked like it would be cheerful and funny and/or silly. 

And...well, it kinda was. And not. Basically, the lead character, Nami Isayama (played by Haruka Ayase) was an orphan who grew up in a lonely fashion and lived a rough life as a spy. She finally decides she's had enough and fakes her own death. All she wants is a "normal" life, though she's not really sure what that is. Husband, kids, taking care of the house. 

She soon lands a husband -- love at first sight -- at a blind dating event. They marry and she quits her job and becomes a housewife. But after 6 months or so, not everything is as perfect as she'd hoped. 1) She's kinda bored, 2) She's a terrible cook, 3) Her new fellow housewife friends have warned her about signs that the marriage isn't going so well (i.e. he's going out to eat more, they aren't getting busy at night as much...) and she's concerned about that.

She and her new friends, played by Ryoko Hirosue (looks familiar, but can't place her) and Tsubasa Honda (who I'd seen in the live action Full Metal Alchemist) decide to take a cooking class together. There, they meet another lady and Nami immediately senses something is off.

So. Yeah. The lady is a victim of domestic violence. Her husband is a serious serial abuser. So. The majority of the first episode is them trying to help her the "housewife" way (i.e. being there for her, trying to back her up even when the husband lies, etc.) but then that fails and Nami ultimately takes matters (more violently) into her own hands. 

Not exactly funny. Or silly. 

They're showing him beating the lady with an orange wrapped in a towel. Then, when she tries to tell him she wants a divorce, he freaking stabs her and then threatens to let her bleed out unless she begs for help.

So. Yeah. 

And, ultimately, dude didn't get what he deserved (JAIL or DEATH) -- Nami just made him divorce the lady and give her the house and leave town. 

So...

I'm not entirely sure how I'm feeling about this one. I'd be willing to give another episode a go, but it's definitely not the FLUFF I thought I was signing up for. It was apparently made into a movie as well (same lead actors) that is set after the end of the drama series (and the husband isn't the IT CEO he claimed to be?). 

Weirdly, Haruka looks like the Japanese version of Jennifer Garner. I mean, disturbingly. Or Jennifer Garner looks like the American version of Haruka Ayase. Not always, but enough that they could just about be body doubles for each other. Especially from Garner's Alias days. Not a thing that affected my enjoyment of the show or anything. Just a weirdness. 

Acting-wise, it was okay but a bit awkward. The leads were decent. The two housewife friends were so-so, especially the one I'd seen in something before. She's just very obviously acting in some scenes. I don't remember that from the movie I saw her in, but it was a live action for an anime, so...

Eh, so I guess I'm a bit 50/50 on this one. I might give it another go, but in a while and when I'm in the mood for something like this (i.e. probably not during a pandemic...). It has potential though. I mean, I do love some ass-kicking. I just wasn't expecting the graphic domestic violence.